French Camino

[aparker]

Hi I am Anne from Boulder, Colorado and I am planning to walk the French Camino from LePuy to the Spanish border this summer 2009. Any advice is welcome, especially on the subject of Black Madonna sites.

 

[agavey]

Hello Anne from Boulder Colorado

This is Anne from British Columbia. I am planning to do the same route in summer 2010, it will be my first time. Is it your 1st time also? My mother is from France and she has confirmed that it is very beautiful, with good food and wonderful people. The weather is very hot during the summer months.

Anne G

 

[jl]

Hello "Annes", you will enjoy walking from Le Puy - it is a truly beautiful path. Yes, in summer it can be quite hot, although the first few weeks will be tempered by the altitude that you will be walking at. However, once you drop off the Aubrac Plateau then the temperature and the humidity are likely to be noticeably higher. I walked this path in 2007 from about August 6th and so if you have any questions feel free to contact me. The beauty of this path is also that most (almost all, in fact) of the churches on the way were open, as opposed to Spain where the opposite seems to occur. I am off on July 3rd (less than 7 months now) to walk the Vezelay path and then onto the Camino del Norte. Enjoy your planning. Janet

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Anne from Colorado and a belated welcome to the Forum .
There is plenty of information on the Forum if you want to do research, including some blogs - Margaret's [Kiwinomad] who walked the route last year, and there is the CSJ Guide among others. I have done the route twice, 1996 and 2005 although numbers have changed a lot in that time. Feel free to direct any questions this way.
Regarding Black Madonnas, there is a diversion north to Rocamadour where there is a Black Madonna; I think the route joins the GR65 again without having to retrace your steps. You could investigate this route before you set out or places like Hospitalite de Saint Jacques at Estaing would be able to advise as you go along the route.
Buen Camino,
Brendan